Know your street – Churchill Avenue Strathfield

Churchill Ave 1934

Churchill Ave 1913

Churchill Avenue Strathfield was formerly known as the ‘The Avenue’. The street was renamed in 1948, after Strathfield Council merged with Homebush Council as there was two streets named The Avenue in Strathfield and in Homebush. The Avenue Strathfield was renamed Churchill Avenue after World War II British Wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. The Avenue Homebush was renamed Dalton Avenue after former Mayor of Homebush Thomas Dalton.

Churchill Avenue runs between The Boulevarde and Homebush Road. Part of Churchill Avenue is located in the Strathfield Town Centre. The building of Raw Square, in the late 1960s, bisected the residential area of Churchill Avenue from the Strathfield Town Centre.

Most of the houses in Churchill Avenue are Federation in style and were built in the early 1900s, following the subdivision of the land known as the ‘King Estate’ in 1903 and 1904. Prior to this time, this land had been considered unusable due to the presence of a watercourse, created by overflow water from Powell’s Creek (which runs at nearby Elva Street and finishes under Strathfield Square).

St Martha’s Catholic Church and School is located on the corner of Homebush Road and Churchill Avenue.

The area of Churchill Avenue between Elva Street and Homebush Road was first listed as a heritage conservation area in 1987 in Strathfield Council’s Local Environmental Plan.

A number of houses on Churchill-Avenue are associated with important local people including:

‘Mozart House’ at 57 Churchill Avenue was the home of Hugo Alpen, the Superintendent of Music in the Department of Public lnstruction from 1907 until his death in 1917.

James McGirr, Premier and Colonial Treasurer of N.S.W. from 1947 to 1952, lived at 59 Churchill Avenue from 1941 until his death in 1957.

Sir Edward McTiernan, longest serving member of the High Court of Australia, lived at ‘Allerton’ 78 Churchill Avenue from 1927 to 1950.

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74 Churchill Avenue Strathfield was built c1910 and was named Cooroona. It was owned by Frederick Wiesenthal until 1923, then sold to John Winder. Winder died in 1939 and was sold to Victor Kushan. In 1953, it was sold to Edgar Edmondson.